Purpose :
Automatic counting of endothelial cells (EC) is subject to errors due to the acquired image quality and to the accuracy of the software, which can distort the specular microscopy (SM) results. This study aims to compare the ability to recognize endothelial cells using automatic counting of a non-contact (NC) SM between the central area (CA) and paracentral areas (PCA) from the endothelial mosaic.

Results :
Results from EC recognition capability analysis (N of non-counted EC groups, total number of EC in these groups and erroneously counted EC) and SM parameters (CC, ECD, ACA, CV and HEX) as well as the comparison between groups I and II are presented in table 1.

Conclusions :
EC automatic counting presented inaccuracies in both groups, although they were more significant in group I. This study suggests manual cell counting or individualized assessment with correction of errors to minimize distortions in the results of specular microscopy.

This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2016 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Seattle, Wash., May 1-5, 2016.